2022-23 FINAL REPORT
"We have wrapped up the 2022-23 SFJAZZ presenting season and are happy to share this Final Report. It’s been an exciting and highly rewarding year, as rapidly build back towards “normal," following a disruptive 2+ years. Below, you’ll find a snapshot of some of our proudest achievements this past year in our Artistic, Education, and Community Engagement initiatives.
None of these achievements would have been possible without the support of the SFJAZZ community in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. We thank you for your ongoing support: your participation, your philanthropy, and your passion, and we look forward to welcoming you soon to our summer programming and the 2023-24 Season."
Greg Stern
CEO
Artistic
Concerts
SFJAZZ’s 2022-23 Season was full of exciting concerts, momentous events and unique collaborations. We presented 407 shows in the Miner Auditorium and Joe Henderson Lab as well as Herbst Theater, the Paramount in Oakland and Davies Symphony Hall. 34% of the artists were Bay Area residents and 41% were women. Featured artists included Mavis Staples, Hiromi, a week dedicated to the music of Miles Davis, Ranky Tanky with Lisa Fischer, Monsieur Periné, Amadou & Mariam, Dee Dee Bridgewater with Bill Charlap, Rosanne Cash performing a 30 year retrospective of her career, Pink Martini, Moodswings featuring Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman, Brian Blade and Christian McBride, Charles Lloyd performing four different concerts, the SFJAZZ Collective performing all original music, and Lila Downs celebrating the Day of the Dead - to name just a few!
Gala
At our 2023 Gala honoring founder and Executive Artistic Director Randall Kline, artists who have performed with SFJAZZ over the past 40 years returned to celebrate Randall. Artists including Herbie Hancock, Dianne Reeves, Cecile McLorin Salvant and Sullivan Fortner, Branford Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane, Veronica Swift, Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal, the SFJAZZ Collective, the SFJAZZ High School All Stars, Miguel Zenon, Eric Harland, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Regina Carter all performed in this tribute to Randall in our most successful Gala ever, which generated over $2.1 M! The Gala After Party featured Trombone Shorty and Red Baraat.
Resident Artistic Directors
Every two years, we choose five outstanding artists to curate a week’s worth of concerts as part of our Resident Artistic Director (RAD) program. During the 2021-2022 and 2022-23 seasons, our RAD class included Ambrose Akinmusire, Anat Cohen, Chris Potter, Soweto Kinch, and Terri Lyne Carrington.
SFJAZZ Collective
Our 2022-23 line-up included Chris Potter (Music Director, tenor & soprano saxophones, bass clarinet), David Sánchez (tenor saxophone), Warren Wolf (vibraphone), Edward Simon (piano), Matt Brewer (bass), Kendrick Scott (drums), and new member Mike Rodriguez (trumpet). Together, they composed seven new works, arranged three new works, released a new album this past March, and toured in 11 cities in the US and Europe performing 29 concerts.
Immersive Media
Since its launch, the primary goal of the Immersive Media System has been to augment the musical experience by generating audio-reactive visual content, drawing from a library of shapes, textures, colors and live camera integration. Since July 2022, highlights of SFJAZZ’s Immersive Video System have included: Opera Parallele’s production of Philip Glass’ La Belle et La Bette, visual artist Mickalene Thomas’ collaboration with Terri Lyne Carrington of Seen/Unseen, and pianist-composer Dan Tepfer’s custom content for the SFJAZZ Gala.
SFJAZZ At Home
Our digital platform SFJAZZ At Home expanded considerably this past season. In addition to 52 total weekly Fridays Live broadcasts – which averaged 2,000 viewers a week and featured artists ranging from Hiromi, Chris Botti, and Cecile McLorin Salvant Quintet to Monsieur Periné, Amadou & Mariam and Jake Shimabukuro – SFJAZZ At Home added several new content shelves. SFJAZZ live-streamed its Listening Parties (with Robin D.G. Kelley, Kid Koala, Jason Moran and Rosanne Cash) which were also made available On-Demand; launched the monthly SFJAZZ Magazine (“On The Corner,” featuring exclusive articles by guest journalists, “Dialogues”between Randall Kline and artists, and artist-curated playlists), a “Spotlight” video series on each member of the SFJAZZ Collective, as well as a free livestream of the all-star 2023 SFJAZZ Gala Concert. Since its launch in 2020, SFJAZZ At Home has engaged over 17,000 At Home members (with over 50% residing outside of the San Francisco Bay Area) and has raised nearly $800,000 for musicians.
Education
Afterschool Jazz
In our seventh year of partnership with the Oakland Public Conservatory, the 2022-23 school year included visiting artist clinics and masterclasses with Carl Allen, Steve Turre, Amina Scott, Curtis Lundy and visiting ensemble Mwenso & The Shakes. Over 100 students from Oakland and the Greater East Bay participated in these programs throughout the year
Digital Lab
A new hybrid approach for this program now enables students to connect directly with Teaching Artists in a dynamic in-person environment while also providing the flexibility of online instruction. Partnership conversations with the San Francisco Public Library and the Boys & Girls Club of San Francisco have generated plans for an expansion of the Digital Lab program, including “train the trainer” sessions for emerging faculty. We offered 28 classes and served 200+ students this season.
Family Matinees
Our first full season of Family Matinees since the pandemic included the two-time GRAMMY-winning South Carolina group Ranky Tanky in one of the most uplifting performances of the fall. Spring highlights include Marcus Shelby’s exhilarating Blues in the City premiere and recent GRAMMY winners Alphabet Rockers. We also piloted the broadcast of our April matinee in partnership with the CENIC network to the Ventura County Public Library system, with the goal of reaching hundreds of potential families in their neighborhood libraries next year. Total attendance exceeded 2,500.
SFJAZZ High School All-Stars
The award-winning High School All-Stars had another standout year and continue to showcase their remarkable skills as the next generation of jazz ambassadors. Highlights included:
- 2023 Mingus Festival and Competition Winners (Both Combo & Big Band), including Best Woodwind Section, Best Brass Section, Best Student Arrangement, 8 outstanding soloist awards, and 1 Student Scholarship
- 2023 DownBeat Student Music Awards (Combo & Big Band)
- HSAS members participated in a variety of events for SFJAZZ and the community, including the S.F. Zoo’s Annual Gala, Alaska Airlines’ Holiday Celebration in Terminal 2, SFO’s Holiday Celebration in Terminal 3, and events for The Guardsmen, Children's Hospital Branches, and John Burton Advocates for Youth.
- Recorded studio album at Skywalker Sound (June 2023)
- Showcase concerts in December and May, with special guests Kebbi Williams and Soweto Kinch for their spring concert. Total attendance in person was 600+.
- New double album released in May of 2023 for the previous year’s ensembles.
RJAM Side-By-Side
Our ongoing partnership with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s RJAM program nurtures and elevates emerging jazz talent, while providing RJAM students with access to many of our performances through our ticket outreach program. This past season featured three showcases to capacity crowds with the Conservatory students alongside their stellar faculty mentors, including Helen Sung, Mike Rodríguez, Warren Wolf, Akira Tana, Carmen Bradford and many others.
School Programs
The resumption of in-person teaching was a welcome return for our students, teaching artists and partner schools.
- We kicked off the school year with a professional development workshop for over 180 Performing and Visual Arts instructors as part of our partnership with the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD).
- We resumed our Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) collaboration for the spring School Day Concerts at the SFJAZZ Center. The CENIC interface allowed us to reach 280 additional students virtually on top of the 600+ who attended in person. Total attendance was 880.
- We also resumed our School Day Concerts On-the-Road program, reaching 2,303 students by bringing live jazz concerts directly to school sites in Oakland and San Francisco.
- SFJAZZ provided 950 hours of free instruction through our in-school Jazz In the Middle (JIM), Jazz In Session (JIS), and School Day Concerts On-the-Road programs.
Community Engagement
Community Partnerships
In collaboration with our community partners, SFJAZZ created and offered a range of programs free of charge to San Francisco and Oakland residents including:
- SFJAZZ Girls Day focused on Recording Arts (co-sponsored by Oscar-winning recording engineer Leslie Ann Jones), attended by female youth ages 13-18.
- Community Concerts: In partnership with the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD), SFJAZZ curated three performances at the MoAD gallery space featuring Bay Area greats Paula West, Tiffany Austin and Martin Luther McCoy. These capacity concerts were attended by SFJAZZ and MoAD members and resumed our commitment to extending our reach throughout the Bay Area while amplifying Black artists. Total attendance was 250.
- More than 2,200 concert tickets were distributed to community and school partners as part of our ongoing Ticket Outreach program, a value of over $176,000.
- Open Sound Checks resumed in the 2022-23 season, featuring behind-the-scenes opportunities for students and educators to witness the preparations for SFJAZZ’s performances. Featured artists included Terri Lyne Carrington, Anat Cohen, Chris Potter, Ambrose Akinmusire and others.
Discover Jazz
Our flagship jazz appreciation welcomed audiences back with two exciting themes, led by our long-standing teaching artist Terrence Brewer. The fall series highlighted iconic jazz albums recorded in 1959, featuring very special guests including NEA Jazz Master and tenor saxophone giant Joe Lovano. Our spring series showcased blues and jazz women who celebrate March birthdays and featured extraordinary vocalists and instrumentalists including Tiffany Austin. Total attendance was 528.
SFJAM (Full Season)
The accolades for our newly-minted community jam session program continue! With nine sessions offered throughout the 2022-23 season, SFJAM participants ranged in age from 8 to 85 and gathered in a joyful celebration of jazz, blues, Brazilian standards and more. Nearly 500 musicians signed up throughout the season to play, and dozens of fans and supporters—many of them new to SFJAZZ—enjoyed one of the rare gems of the Bay Area’s musical offerings. Musical directors this year included Terrence Brewer, Kristen Strom, Sylvia Cuenca, Howard Wiley, Destiny Muhammad, Kasey Knudsen, Henry Hung, Art Khu and Anne Sajdera. Total recorded attendance was 789. For a taste of the excitement, watch this promo video.